The present invention relates to circuit breakers, and more particularly relates to the mounting of auxiliary components upon a breaker base.
Auxiliaries, such as secondary contact disconnect, rating error prevention, and locator for safety trip, are mounted directly on a breaker base. The mounting surface space in compact breakers is extremely limited. This imposes restriction on the number of auxiliary components that can be mounted and used with the breakers. Their fitment is often very difficult and unreliable. The routing of auxiliary circuit wires is critical as it might interfere with the moving parts.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, an auxiliary component interface for a circuit breaker is disclosed including a substrate having a base surface adapted for attachment to a base of a circuit breaker, a mounting surface adapted for mounting auxiliary components, and an external periphery. A plurality of substrate screw apertures are located within the substrate for accepting screws. An auxiliary contact block may be mounted to the mounting surface of the substrate. The auxiliary contact block is adapted to carry eight auxiliary contacts and has an auxiliary contact block screw aperture for aligning with a substrate screw aperture. Other features of the interface include passageways for auxiliary circuit wire routing and rating plugs.